1,1,2-trichloro-1,2,2-trifluoroethane (known in the trade under the name F113) is widely used in industry for the cleaning and degreasing of solid surfaces. Apart from its application in electronics for cleaning solder flux to remove the etching flux which adheres to printed circuits, its applications for the degreasing of heavy metal parts and for cleaning high-quality and high-precision mechanical parts such as, for example, gyroscopes and military or aerospace equipment can be mentioned. In its various applications, F113 is most frequently associated with other organic solvents (for example methanol), preferably in the form of azeotropic or pseudo-azeotropic mixtures which do not separate and which, employed at reflux, have approximately the same composition in the vapor phase as in the liquid phase.
However, F113 is among the completely halogenated chlorofluorocarbons which are now suspected of attacking or of degrading stratospheric ozone.